Director of Russian psychiatric home under investigation for using disabled residents as forced laborers

Russian authorities have launched a criminal case against Yevgeny Yezhelya, the director of the Birobidzhan Psychoneurological Institution, after investigators discovered that he exploited patients in the construction of his dacha — a private country house.

The institution’s residents have been declared legally incapacitated and suffer from mental disorders, making them especially vulnerable to abuse. According to the prosecution, Yezhelya took advantage of this, forcing them to perform construction work on his property from 2022 to 2024.

The Investigative Committee of Birobidzhan, the administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast in the Russian Far East, has charged Yezhelya with abuse of authority, a criminal offense. He has been detained. Searches and the questioning of witnesses are ongoing. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in prison.

The care home — a “psychoneurological internat” — is a state-run residential facility of the sort found in Russia and in several other post-Soviet countries. Such institutions provide long-term care for individuals who suffer from severe mental illnesses, neurological disorders, and intellectual disabilities. These institutions house residents who are often deemed legally incapacitated and are unable to live independently.